In a considerable upset, former Strikeforce 135-pound competitor Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto dropped down to 120 pounds tonight and knocked out Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton at Bellator Fighting Championships 23. The end came exactly two minutes into the first round.
Sexton pressed the action early on, but was unable to secure a takedown and ultimately met her demise after a vicious knee from Frausto. Sexton had been scheduled to take part in the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament in August, but could now be subject to a medical suspension.
The lineup for the Bellator Fighting Championships women’s 115-pound tournament is now complete. The promotion announced earlier today that American Top Team standout Jessica “Jag” Aguilar has officially signed on to be part of the impressive eight-woman tournament in August.
As the promotion prepares to begin its long-awaited 135-pound women’s tournament later this summer, MMARising.com can exclusively reveal four of the participants in the eight-woman bracket. Among them are Brazilian star Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm and former Strikeforce title challenger Marloes “Rumina” Coenen.
Fractured ribs have forced former long-time PRIDE champ Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva out of his featured middleweight bout with Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116. MMAFighting.com was first to report on the injury, which takes Silva out of the highly-anticipated July 3rd event.
World Extreme Cagefighting travelled north of the border tonight for WEC 49: “Varner vs Shalorus” at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The event was headlined by a lightweight contender’s bout between former champ Jamie “The Worm” Varner and Kamal “Prince of Persia” Shalorus.
Picking up his third straight first-round knockout victory, Marlon Sandro at last captured the Sengoku Featherweight Championship tonight with a destruction of Masanori “Kin-chan” Kanehara. The title bout headlined a stoppage-filled Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 card that also featured the opening round of the Sengoku Welterweight Grand Prix.
Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter wrapped up tonight at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. This season’s finale was headlined by the Middleweight final between Court “The Crusher” McGee and Kris “Savage” McCray, while Matt “The Hammer” Hamill took on “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine in a pivotal co-main event.
Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney has big plans for his promotion’s women’s division in the coming year. Speaking exclusively with MMARising.com today, Rebney outlined plans for the upcoming Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament in August, as well as the potential for an additional women’s tournament in 2011.